Description

This microlot was produced at a family run micro-mill, "Don Oscar", in the Tarrazu valley. This area is part of the Talamanca Sierra highlands, with peaks reaching as high as 3000 meters, and lote Beto reaches 1800 meters above sea level. It's an ideal micro-region and climate for growing coffee with rich volcanic soil, great altitude, and is shaded from the hot afternoon suns by mountain peaks. The brothers who run Don Oscar, and the surrounding farms, (which they are only processing coffee from at this time), are cousins of Roger Solis, who's micromill La Casona we've also bought coffee from. Their farm, which is broken into 40 lots, is a mix of Red Catuai and Caturra. They produce mechanically washed coffee (like most in the region) so no fermentation is actually used to remove the mucilage layer. Instead, it is mechanically removed with use of only a little water, and then the seed with parchment intact and a very thin layer of mucilage are laid to dry both outside in the sun on raised beds, or a mechanical dryer is used when the patios are full. Due to the amount of mucilage left intact on this particular lot, roasting produces a lot of chaff, and so judging the coffee's physical color during the roast process can be a bit tricky. With all the tan chaff, the coffee may look done before it actually is, causing you to pull prematurely, and yield grassy flavors. I recommend waiting until you hear snaps underway and then try to use time as a good indicator for when to pull the roasted coffee.

Beto has a fruited sweetness that's like blueberry and caramel swirl, an aroma that is equal parts "coffee" bittersweetness and berry jam. Pouring hot water over the ground coffee brings up a smell of baked goods with dry fruits, raisin and dehydrated blueberry notes accenting a mixture of bittering cacao and raw sugar smells in the steam. City+ roasts have developed sweetness in the brewed coffee, caramel sugar sweetness (replete with some molasses allusions too), a creamy pistachio finishing accent. The cool cup sees a re-emergence of berry aromatics, the brightness of blackberry, and a near floral ripe blueberry crowning top note. Beto has a subtle tea-like acidity too, which adds structure to the cup. Full City roasts express heavier flavors of dark chocolate (reminds me of inexpensve chocolate, like a Hershey's Kiss), and body sees a moderate boost. For mechanically washed coffee, this lot of Beto shows a fair amount of fruited complexity, overt fruited notes that we tend to associate with honey processing.